What is Judicial overreach? List out the factors which indirectly promote judicial overreach with some examples.
What is Judicial overreach? List out the factors which indirectly promote judicial overreach with some examples.
- Judicial Overreach refers to an extreme form of judicial activism where arbitrary and unreasonable interventions are made by the judiciary into the domain of the legislature or executive.
- This is a situation where the court encroaches upon the role of the legislature by making laws. Instances of judicial overreach by the Supreme Court include
i) Denying the executive any role in the appointment of judges by instituting collegiums (an extra constitutional body).
ii) Invalidating the National Judicial Accountability Commission Act, 2014 seeking to ensure transparency and accountability in higher judiciary.
Causes of Judicial overreach:
1. Laxity in the functioning of other organs: Lax functioning of the legislature and executive may result in corruption, delay, non-responsiveness, or inefficiency in the governance. These things create a vacuum in governance. Most of the time such vacuums are filled by the judiciary.
For example: The 1997 Vishakha guidelines for the prevention of sexual harassment of women at the workplace were an outcome of the inability of the legislature to address this matter.
2. General Asymmetry of power: The Supreme Court is the most powerful branch of governance. Every judgment is binding on the other two branches (legislature and executive) and it can strike down their actions as well as their laws.
3. Public Interest Litigation (PIL): Introduction of the concept of PIL did away with the doctrine of ‘locus standi’ (no one except the affected person can approach a court for a legal remedy). PIL permitted any member of the society to file a case for appropriate directions against any injustice. Consequently, the expectations of the public went high.
4. Other factors: Growing consciousness of people for their rights, globalization, active media and civil society organizations, concerns for the environment among others are also considered important reasons for judicial activism and judicial overreach.
Conclusion:
The Supreme Court has, on various occasions, highlighted the importance of judicial restraint. The judiciary must therefore exercise self-restraint and eschew the temptation to act as a super-legislature.
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